Roller and ball-type bearings are used in the wheels of various vehicles, including cars, trucks, semi-trailers, and so forth.
In order to provide sufficient lubrication of these hearings, it is common practice to surround the bearing with a viscous oil or grease. After some time of operation, however, the oil or grease either becomes oxidized, becomes too viscous, or incorporates small metallic particles requiring the bearing to be cleaned and the bearing re-packed. Specifically, for continued efficient operation, the lubricant should be removed from the interstices between the rollers or balls and replaced with fresh lubricant.
Conventional removal of the lubricant is often carried out by immersing the bearing in a bucket or other container of a hydrocarbon solvent such as gasoline, naphtha or kerosene. However, this procedure is only partially effective in removing all the lubricant, while being cumbersome, necessitating the operator to place their hands in the solvent. In time, this causes the hands to become rough, chapped and sore, since the solvent removes the natural oil from the skin.
While there have been devised manual and automated apparatus for cleaning such bearings, the manual versions are similarly ineffective, while the automated versions are too complex and expensive. There is an outstanding need, therefore, for a manually operated bearing cleaning apparatus that is effective while being simple to operate and inexpensive to implement.